Reps. Young, Ball, Dean, Bieda, Byrnes, Clack, Hammel, Hammon, Robert Jones, Lemmons, Palmer, Polidori, Sak, Stahl, Vagnozzi and Valentine offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 218.

            A resolution to encourage the President and Congress of the United States to include Michigan transportation corridors in future funding of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Corridors of the Future Program.

            Whereas, As part of its National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network, launched in May 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation introduced the Corridors of the Future Program. Corridors of the Future is a program designed to help manage congestion on major interstate highway corridors through extensive use of innovative technologies such as computerized traffic control systems, electronic congestion tolling, and traveler information systems. The program's purpose is to facilitate transportation planning across state lines to reduce congestion and preserve the efficient flow of goods and commerce across America; and

            Whereas, Congestion is an increasing problem as highway usage is growing steadily. The average Detroit commuter wasted 57 hours in traffic congestion in 2003 and the total cost to Detroit consumers in wasted time and fuel in 2003 was estimated at over $2 billion. The Federal Highway Administration has ranked the I-94 interchange with I-75 in Detroit as the worst in Michigan and among the worst in the nation for annual hours of delay for trucks; and

            Whereas, Michigan has several interstate transportation corridors, but the most prominent is the I-94 corridor that is the primary east-west interstate link with the Midwest's major industrial and commercial centers in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I-94 is an international corridor that includes two of the busiest commercial United States/Canada border crossings and is critical to the well-being of local, state, and national economies. United States/Canada trade supports 5.2 million jobs in the United States, including approximately 174,000 jobs in Michigan; and

Whereas, Clearly, Michigan would be a good fit for the Corridors of the Future Program and it would support economic growth not only in Michigan, but in the entire Midwest region; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we encourage the President and Congress of the United States to include Michigan transportation corridors in future funding of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Corridors of the Future Program; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.